News Article
Cape Breton Drum Fest 2008
Cape Breton, NS Apr 30, 2008
The Beautiful Isle at the Tip of Canada's Nova Scotia Province Really Does It Right!
Celebrating 'Year of the Classics' the annual 2-day Cape Breton International Drum Fest has risen from small beginnings to a world-class event that this year attracted such globally well-known SABIAN players as Liberty DeVitto, Carmine Appice, Dom Famularo, and original Santana drummer Michael Shrieve among a lengthy list of outstanding talent.
Uriel Jones
The legendary Uriel Jones - back for his third time - had everyone up early for a morning masterclass. One of the original Motown 'Funk Brothers' drummers, Uriel has played on more hits, from the Supremes to the Temptations to the Four Tops, than even he can remember. The core message of Uriel's lesson - and one of the best for every drummer - was all about making the music happen with simple yet effective fills and grooves.
Dave Langguth
An exciting player with a big future, Dave Langguth - fresh from major clinic dates across Canada - may be best known as hitmaker Nelly Furtado's funky drummer, but let this boy loose on his own and it's furious fusion, hot hip-hop grooves and blinding solos. Global touring with Furtado and clinics happening as far away as Mexico mean you too may get the chance to see this great young drummer in action.
Stephane Chamberland
New to the Fest, special guest Stephane hails from Quebec City. This young player is into all styles, from pop and rock to fusion and beyond. His tasteful approach and sheer enthusiasm for playing were a reminder that the biggest part of great drumming is making it feel good. Like Dave Langguth, Stephane makes the music happen and has a big future ahead of him.
Michael Shrieve
Michael's drumming and compositions with the original Santana are legendary. And though it wasn't his original intention at this Fest, a last-minute change of mind saw him follow his opening solo with a blast from his past, as he ripped through Santana's 'Jingo' and 'Black Magic Woman', the latter, as he reminded the audience, a tune that originated with the original Fleetwood Mac in the late 60s. A musician with vision, Michael was honored with a 'Legend' award from DrumFest founders Bruce and Gloria Aitken before leaving the stage to a standing ovation.
Carmine Appice
The legendary creator of hard rock drumming (pick up his 'Realistic Rock' book at www.powerrock.com) delivered a set that highlighted grooving and soloing in odd-time meters. If you ever thought soloing in 7, 9, 11, or 13/8 was tricky, you've got see Carmine in action. The man that defined the rock drum set and how we play it (big, hard and loud respectively) is the master. He's been touring with his bands Cactus (blistering boogie and blues) and the Vanilla Fudge (the archetype prog. rockers). See Carmine in action and you'll see what rock drumming is all about. And exactly where it came from.
Aldo Mazza
This gifted drummer percussionist from Montréal - he's also artist director for the KOSA International Percussion Workshop and instructor at McGill Conservatory of Music - translates a world of percussion experience into world-like grooves and feels with ease. Tasty. Mature. Very rhythmic in the most musical sense, whether performing his own set or guesting on percussion with other players, Aldo - like so many of the players this year - brought to this event a sense of musical worldliness. www.kosamusic.com
Liberty DeVitto
If you're familiar with Billy Joel's music you may find it hard to believe that Liberty DeVitto is one of the world's hardest hitting drummers. With a set that focuses on the fun side of creating drum parts for some of the greatest pop music of all time, Lib not only demonstrates what to play to make a song work, he demonstrates how to play it. Tunes like 'Honesty' receive the arm-in-the-air-slamming-down-on-the-kit treatment, while 'I Love You Just the Way Your Are' is given a unique pseudo samba feel. Finishing with a tune that gave him room to show his chops, Lib left the stage to a standing ovation? and the respect of all those other great players who were left wondering how does he keep it so simple yet make it so effective?
David Jones
The smiling zen-like figure of David Jones transformed into an incredibly gifted drum demon once this quiet Australian hit the stage. Kicking off with a solo before creating various sounds on the drum set (scratching the heads, using small brooms and dishmops? ), not only did David prove to be the surprise of the show, he gained some new fans in Liberty ('I've got a new drum idol!'), Carmine ('He's doing all the stuff we've wanted to do.') and the rest of the players. You can hear David on his new CD/DVD set Colours of the Drum at www.buywell.com
Dom Famularo
After a weekend or revealing performances and standing ovations, Dom took the stage. Standing there speaking he was entertaining, educating, a lot of laughs and a lot of fun. Then he sat down at his kit? and blew through solos that had everyone on their feet at the end of his set.
The Cape Breton International Drum Festival is ? thanks to its founders, staff and local supporters - an event that warrants greater global interest.
